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‘Vote this year, get free beer’- Students are ‘key target’ in campaign

Bristol landlord Joby Andrews has launched a campaign offering free beer to people registering to vote in next month’s general election.

The ‘Vote this year, get free beer’ campaign offers newly registered voters a free pint at any participating establishment when they show an email proving they have registered to vote since the campaign launched last week.

The campaign poster

At the time of writing, 40 pubs have signed up to participate in the scheme, including venues in Bristol, Manchester, London, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Sheffield. Bristol venues include The Love Inn, Stokes Croft and Flipside Cocktail Club on Whiteladies Road.

Andrews, who says the campaign is targeting 300 pubs by the time the registration deadline passes on 22nd May, told Epigram that students were a ‘key target’ in the campaign.

‘I was a student in Sheffield and Bristol and I was disengaged, I didn’t vote,’ he said. ‘Now, given the current political climate, I’ve woken up.’

Joby Andrews (left) says the four per cent margin of victory over Brexit should prove to people that their vote is important

‘You’d expect students to be a bit more switched on than some other young, disengaged people, so if we can just offer something to ignite that interest, it’s great. We can’t reward people for voting but we can for registering, and once you’ve done that you’ve done the time consuming part. After that you just rock up and put a tick in a box.’

For those who have already registered to vote, the scheme is also holding competitions to win prizes including tickets to the Love Saves The Day music festival and Alfresco Disco.